Yesterday's News
by Basil to Blithe
Summary: Some problems can't be solved by just one man. From the youngest genin to the women he loved, they all played their part. Anbu Kurenai, Fourth and company. Begins shortly before the Kyuubi attack. In need of a rewrite.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I have no claim on the content of the manga/anime, Naruto.

-What used to be the prologue enjoyed a scene transplant with the new chapter, Some fresh stuff here in it's place. Thanks for readin'!

* * *

**Chapter One**

**1  
**

* * *

There are many important truths in any genin's life: Kunai can never be too sharp, shuriken always get caught on one's pants, genjutsu are hard, and Anbu do not sing. There was a little leeway with the first two, and the third remained a source of endless frustration, but that last was a universal constant. The perfect soldier, was an Anbu.

Kurenai, for her part, was having difficulty reconciling reality with the man hanging above her head. "That's the last of them, Anbu-san." she said, offering him a cord of fuses.

Hanging with his knees hooked over rough bark, he tied off the previous batch and attached them to a seal with a flourish before taking hers in hand. He wasn't quite singing as he worked anymore, he'd been at it for too long, but at no point in the proceedings had he ceased to warble, whistle, or hum. Kurenai wasn't sure if he knew he was doing it anymore.

Shrugging, she left him to it and pretended to look around. Watching him from the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but wonder whether his levity was for her benefit or his own. She was going to die; nobody on the defense screen could really expect to survive, least of all a genin.

Despite her chances, it felt good to be with someone who wasn't quite so damned sober about it all. Her sensei hadn't even had the decency to smile when he'd tossed her a number that morning. Dead men walking took on a whole new meaning then.

The Anbu quieted for a moment and caught Kurenai's gaze, waving the cord at her. "This was good work genin, you managed the hard part this time." Anbu also weren't known for speaking praise. Kurenai looked away and croaked what she hoped was an affirmative. It was also nice to be treated as if what she did mattered. Her sensei hadn't ever made her blush, either.

Embarrassed, she clasped her hands behind her back and set about counting the explosive tags she could see from where she stood. There were plenty of trees, and only a handful were unmarked.

Kurenai tried not to grin when he picked up the tune again.

_()_

Something smelled distinctly like... When was it, a month ago, or was it more? He couldn't remember, his head was fuzzy. Hey, fuzzy, that was it! Fuzzy, fuzzy, fuz - No don't do that stop, stop, stop, stop, I'll - straight to -

Arashi cut an unimpressive figure, slumped as he was against a wooden post facing a deserted training field. The evening air prodded him into movement, but he ignored it, his knees hurt. He sniffed irritably and rubbed his nose with a knuckle. It was dusty, he didn't much care.

"Hokage-sama, is there a problem?"

He flinched, "Just thinking," she'd snuck up on him again. Only one of his own could manage that, they made him proud on occasion.

"Ah, I see," she didn't, as much as she liked the phrase. "Dinner is ready, if you're hungry?" Said so sweetly, it wasn't a question.

Arashi thumped the post with the back of his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "Eat without me, I'll be here for a while." He could do polite, he'd had lessons.

She padded to his side and prodded his shoulder, "I could bring some food out to you."

Arashi opened one eye to squint at her for a moment, catching her look. "No, there's no need to trouble yourself. Thank you." Eye firmly shut, he slumped further.

That effort got him to the count of three. "... What are you thinking about?"

Arashi snorted loudly, smirking. "Kushina."

"Oh. Um, I'm sorry, I'll..." she floundered.

He sighed, easily imagining the way her features must have drooped. "No, not what you're thinking."

She perked up again. "Ah?"

"We had a spirited discussion, that's all." Arashi said brightly, spoiling the effect by thumping the post again.

"I... I see." Here, a measured pause. There, another invitation: "Are you sure you don't want me to bring your dinner?"

Arashi awarded himself a proverbial cookie. "If I said y-"

_()_

Still swinging, Crow put a hand to his ear and thumbed a switch under his mask. Taking a moment to brush away some soot, he grimaced at the scent of burnt hair. Explosive tags were not without their dangers when being deployed in quantity.

"Crow, break." Surprise, embarrassment, muffled threats. "Crow reports sectors sixteen, seventeen, eighteen seeded, over," he drawled, delighting in the stream of abuse he was met with. Anbu captains in particular tended not to appreciate having their presence announced to everyone with a receiver in a five mile radius, and even the mildest of the lot were prone to lash out violently upon hearing a voice in their ear. From the sound of it, he'd nearly gotten at least three people stabbed. "You wound me, Owl, it's almost as if you don't want me around." His amusement was met with a scathing evaluation of his worth as a human being. Crow nodded absently when his orders followed. "Understood, Crow out."

Crow watched his genin pout as she studied the trees and smiled fondly. Owl had a distressing habit of handing him the cute, delicate problems to deal with. He knew the girl was worried, rightly so, and it had been left up to him to ensure that she stayed just off balance enough to keep from taking things too seriously. It had been done for him when he'd joined Anbu, and now his team's temporary pet genin was his problem.

Whistling sharply, Crow caught her attention and dropped to the forest floor, tucking into a roll to stand quite nearly unruffled. "I'm sure I'm fascinating, but I'd advise you to stare when I'm not looking." She squeaked, she actually squeaked! He grinned behind his mask at her red face, girls her age were so easy to tease. "Now, don't look like that, we've got our orders," he added sternly, making a show of flitting past a tree without a backward glance.

Kurenai was mortified, but she wasn't about to be left behind.

_()_

Arashi looked up as she sat beside him with a loaded tray in her hands. "Hello again."

The young woman grinned shyly and shifted the tray over their laps, bumping shoulders. "You didn't say anything about my dinner, did you?"

"No, I suppose I didn't." Arashi chuckled, accepting that he'd be eating no matter what he tried. She could be forceful in her own quiet way, sometimes. She never yelled at him anymore, at least. It was a habit that had taken a certain amount of encouragement for her to outgrow, the looks he'd gotten afterward had only helped his reputation.

She shifted, watching him pick apart his plate. "You look very lonely sometimes, you know."

Arashi got as far as opening his mouth before his eyes crossed. He took a bite instead, he'd been about to say something awkward.

She hadn't noticed, and snatched a mouthful as well before speaking. "You don't need to sit out here all alone."

Arashi shook his head and gestured at the field with his free hand, "People need their space, especially around a Hokage." He thought it would be unfair to point out that Hokages needed their space too, the food was good.

"We don't care about that!" she sounded offended.

Arashi gave her a dull look, "You might not want to, but they have to. It's the curse of the office."

She didn't quite snap at him, "Eat. It's the best cure for feeling sorry."

Arashi smiled and offered her a roll, "You're a wise woman."

* * *

A/N:

There and back again, we'll see what happens to them all a little later. The original scenes were a terrible block sitting where they were, so I called the headsman's perogative and relocated one of them to chapter seven.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**2**

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"Take a seat, time for a rest." Kurenai didn't argue and dropped tiredly to the grass, noting that she was the only genin in sight. Crow had lead her to the edge of a wide meadow. A number of Anbu were spread among the trees at its edge, while a double handful of Jounin lounged in the center, apparently it was a general break. She watched the colorful nin intently, there was something magical about them to her. Some of them were talking animatedly while others were obviously fatigued, one of them even seemed to be asleep. A shortish, orange clad woman caught her eye. The red head danced between her fellows with a bright smile, dispensing a few words to each of them as she went. Her hair was long, clasped in a tail to brush the small of her back. Kurenai felt a rush of envy, she wanted to be like that one day, the people there respected that woman. And well they did, since that woman was the Fourth's wife in all but name.

"I know what you're thinking, Kurenai." Kurenai frowned, glancing at Crow. She'd been under his watch for hours, but he'd never said her name. For all his affected ease, she knew it was more than a little odd for him to address her so informally, especially as an Anbu.

"Anbu-san?" Crow only smirked, saying nothing. After a moment's thought he sprawled on the ground beside her, looking most undignified for an operative. Two more Anbu moved out of the trees to sit beside him and placed a pack on the ground between them, saying nothing to their colleague. She eyed them warily until Crow caught her attention.

He bobbed his head at her vaguely, "When you were in class, you listened to the stories of the old Kage. The blow by blow accounts of their greatest battles, the reports, the lists of techniques. It was all pretty cool, wasn't it?" he nudged her shoulder, looking for a response.

The newcomers paid this no attention, Kurenai was skeptical. Here was another truth she'd learned well as a genin: When scary people with knives start asking funny questions, it means you're about to have a very bad day. She chose her words with care, "Ah, you could say that. It was interesting to learn about them."

Crow nodded absently, working a crick in his neck. "You've seen some of that by now from the jounin, I'm sure. Maybe a demonstration or two during training, perhaps you were rescued during a mission?" he grinned at the look of recognition crossing her face, his voice sweet. "I'll bet they smiled, took you home and told you that you were safe. Another day in the life of a genin." A kunai appeared in his waving hand, and Kurenai froze. Crow hadn't moved for his pouch, she hadn't seen him move, but there it was. "They were lying." his words were threatening, carrying an edge that she didn't appreciate. Kurenai was getting worried. It was silly, though. All these nin were right here, Crow wasn't going to hurt her. He wasn't angry with her, those men were sitting next to him, they wouldn't, no. No. Relax, it's a test. Ninja talk like this, they can be scary. Its what they do. But he'd just said...

Crow smiled, watching his pet genin calm herself. "Genin, when you look at them, what do you see?" He motioned to the chattering crowd.

Kurenai came up blank. "I see a group of leaf jounin."

"No, no. I don't want their label, look a bit deeper than that. What are they?"

"Nin, people, soldiers?" frustration crept into the girl's voice. They looked for all the world as if they were having a picnic under armed guard, what did he want her to say?

"This isn't a guessing game, genin."

"I don't know what you want." Kurenai glared.

Crow shifted in place, propping himself up further with an elbow. "Describe them to me as you see them now," he held up his hand to stave her complaints, seeing her expression darken further. "Humor me," she paled instantly, catching his unspoken threat, the kunai was poised to be thrown.

Thoroughly irritated, Kurenai rattled off a description, "There are fifteen ninja standing, sitting or laying down in a grassy clearing surrounded by new growth trees. Three of them women. Only a few are in uniform, the rest are dressed in mixed garb. All of them are armed, four with long weapons. They appear to be having lunch." Frowning at Crow, she asked, "Is that enough, Anbu-san? Or do you want me to describe each of them in turn?"

"Just keep them in mind." Crow was apparently content with her surly, half baked answer. Kurenai brightened when he dug in the pack and tossed her a canteen, urging her to drink. She uncapped the white bottle and gulped water greedily. His shoulders shook slightly as he watched her, it always amused him to see the new ones go from hostile to appreciative when feeding time came around. So trusting. Feeling generous, he dropped a ration pack in her lap and settled back to watch her eat, conversing with the men beside him.

They preferred to talk by waggling fingers, Crow waved his kunai. They waggled more. When he stared, they waggled again patiently, dispatching his concerns before he could think to raise them. Crow flicked a pleased confirmation.

_()_

At length Kurenai lowered the bottle a final time with a smile on her lips and swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. She hadn't realized just how long it had been since she'd last eaten. "Thank you, Anbu-san."

Crow tapped her on her thigh with the butt of his kunai, she noticed that it had an odd curving design down its length. Two elegant, polished silver ridges stood out from the black iron to trace a path along the blade and under the white cloth grip to emerge at the hoop, lining its edge in an odd spiral. "A pleasure, you looked like you needed it. Ready to continue?"

"Er, continue?" Kurenai asked in confusion. Crow sighed audibly and spun his kunai in the air, saying nothing. "Oh, that. Um. Of course, I apologize," she flushed, understanding that Crow had fed her in an effort to keep her from snapping at him.

"Good girl." She glowered at him, embarrassed again. "Next, the Anbu. Tell me about them."

A test or a lesson, it was difficult to say. Kurenai answered with a half smile, watching a silent figure press itself tightly against a sunlit trunk. "Well, they all look the same apart from their masks and weapons. They're never seen without their uniform, and they don't talk much." Kurenai looked bemused for a moment, muttering, "All of them except for you, anyway." Even as she looked on, the ninja had already disappeared into a shadow that hadn't been there before. She would kill to be able to do that. "They're the elite of the elite," she added quickly.

Crow ignored her earlier comment, "The elite of the elite, hm? True enough, we're certainly the most effective weapon Konoha has at its call." He stood and tilted his head at her, the men who'd sat beside him nodded at her in turn. "Walk with me, Genin." Kurenai scrambled to her feet and followed as he ambled into the forest, falling into step behind him. Crow's friends seemed content to let them go without comment, and the Anbu in the shade didn't bother to spare them a glance.

Not for the first time she appreciated his concern for her. Despite the man's great advantage of height, his stride remained no more than she could easily keep up with. She studied his feet with interest, working to emulate his silent footfalls. It didn't come easily, he walked with a staggered rhythm that paid little heed to petty concerns of balance or coordination. She wondered how he managed to avoid tripping over himself. A minute passed in silence, broken only when Kurenai stepped on an occasional twig or dry leaf with too much force. Crow hummed a few bars of his song. "Funny thing, genin. You didn't call those jounin the elite of Konoha. Why?"

Kurenai furrowed her brow at this, stepping carefully over a fallen trunk, split by lightning in its youth. "I guess that was because the jounin, well, they never really act like it. Everyone respects them too, of course, but they don't wear uniforms. They act like normal people, you Anbu are more mysterious." She looked at him curiously, what was he after?

"You have no idea how important that distinction really is," Crow stopped and turned to face her with a bounce in his step. "Just about every last one of those jounin you saw were in Anbu at some point. That woman you were admiring was too," he paused to glance around conspiratorially, "Her name was Heron, if I recall. Perky girl, she liked baking cakes during off hours. Command promoted her two years ago." Kurenai stopped herself from looking around as well, sure that she was hearing something she shouldn't. Crow just bobbed his head from side to side and waved his kunai in a half circle, slinking under a jutting branch. "She killed an entire squad of stone chuunin when her team was ambushed. Two members of that team survived the night with only minor wounds, and a third made it by a hair. Command dropped a promotion on her head and tossed her into training duty a month later. It was a similar case with your sensei as well." Kurenai blinked when Crow bent at the waist to look her in the eye, speaking softly. "Isn't it funny that we encourage our people to be the best and brightest, only to drop them the moment they start to truly shine? A jounin is wasted on a pack of genin, they usually can't even teach chuunin very well. The difference is too great."

This rankled, she thought she'd learned plenty from her sensei! "But that! That, I don't understand-" Crow reached out to wave the tip of his blade under her nose reprovingly. Kurenai wilted under the frigid gaze of her minder's mask and closed her mouth, cringing. She should have known better than to interrupt a member of Anbu in mid ramble.

Kurenai backed up unconsciously, feeling a sudden chill build from him. She flinched at the feel of bark against her back. Crow stepped toward her, his frame growing large and imposing, no longer was he the amusing man she'd thought he was. She began to sweat. His voice was cruel, "You wouldn't." Another step. He was pressed against her now, deft fingers spun his kunai through a series of loops, holding her gaze. This wasn't right, what was he-

Crow whispered quietly, his white mask cold against her cheek. "Think about it, genin. I'll lay it out, Anbu operate in groups. We split ourselves into fire teams, each member an expert in their field. All of them chuunin." Jerking his head toward the clearing, he caught her chin with one hand and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Those people are different, each of them alone is capable of doing more damage than an entire squad." Her breath caught, every word he spoke was an unpleasant hiss. "Genin. Answer as best you can, take your time." He placed his kunai at her throat gently, so gently that she didn't know he'd done it until she felt her skin catch. Kurenai stared up at the mask with her eyes wide and grasped his wrist, willing him to pull it away. He failed to move. The crow weaved deliberately in her vision, its entire body shifting and twisting, coiling against her. This was a thing who was always ready to kill at any time, never slowing, never stopping, and it was completely focused on her. "Why are jounin forced to care for genin when they could do more good on the front line? Why do we fight and die while they play with children?" He almost spat the words, and Kurenai couldn't help but shudder at the feel of his hand ghosting along her arm. It was difficult to breathe, he was crushing her. "Look closely, genin. Think hard."

Kurenai tried not to panic, hoping for a clue, praying that the man didn't mean to kill her. "I don't-" His fingers dug painfully into her shoulder, prompting her to reconsider. "T-the, ah, the official story was that genin would be better protected by jounin, and that we'd learn best from them. We were told that we were, we- we're supposed to be the future of- Of..." The kunai drove deeper, it hurt. The crow motioned for her to continue. She wanted to hit something, Anbu were not supposed to do this to genin, he wasn't supposed to do this to her! She continued in a rush, trying to answer him as if she might have during an exam. "O-of c-course that can't be the whole truth of it, because genin are relatively common. Konoha can afford to lose us." He wanted a complete answer, she squirmed, desperately searching for what he wanted to hear. "From what you've said, the reason has to-" he was pressing hard and she felt a trickle run down her neck, "has to do with the jounin themselves?" The crow judged her mournfully, and she refused to scream.

Wrenching the kunai violently, Crow stepped back to let her fall with a pained gasp. He smiled with genuine warmth, watching the girl clutch desperately at her bleeding throat, whimpering desperately. He crouched by her side and spoke quietly, reciting a mantra he knew by heart, "Genin, chuunin, jounin. These are not ranks, these are not measures of power." Crow pulled her right hand out from under her body and wrapped her fingers around the kunai soundly. Kurenai blinked away tears, caught between embarrassment, terror and rage. "These are measures of spirit." She grasped the kunai in confusion, trying not to cry.

"C-Crow?" She'd never hated her voice more than she had at that moment. Her hands were slick, sticky. The bleeding wouldn't stop, but it wasn't that deep a cut, was it? She could still breathe. It burned.

"There is no limit to strength, even a genin can rival a kage. Few genin ever do." Crow frowned in concern at the amount of blood he saw. He moved behind the girl and pulled her to his chest, he'd gone too far. "Genin aren't really ninja yet. They don't understand death, they can't deal with it." Ignoring her mewl of protest, he tugged her free hand from the gash and pressed his fingers over the wound, letting a soft green glow cool the burning heat. With it he reached, flowing deeper. "Chuunin are true combatants. They fear death, but they accept it. They're still human, the best of these are the people who make up Anbu." He held her tightly, letting his power do its work. "Jounin are different. They're broken." Smiling, he traced a line that she wasn't meant to see. A little twist, that was all he needed.

Kurenai nodded slightly, feeling lethargic as the pulsing chill stroked her body, taking away the pain and fear. She enjoyed the warmth of the man who spoke to her. There was something different now. She shivered.

"Chuunin, one day you may join their ranks, but today you join ours. Welcome to Anbu." Crow felt proud, motioning to the object she held. The question hadn't mattered, nor had the answer, but her reaction had been satisfactory.

In her hand lay a bone white mask, daubed in her own blood. Kurenai blinked in wonder.

"Go to sleep."

"Good night, Crow." She was fading, her eyelids were heavy.

"Heh. Good night, Heron." Crow raised his head and called to the figures hanging from the trees above them, pale features staring blankly. "Isn't she cute?"

They stared back.

* * *

A/N:

This is great fun, poor Kurenai.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**3**

* * *

"That was cruel, Crow," a rolling tenor noted from above.

Crow waved a hand lightly, taking care not to disturb his passenger as he did, "Shameful lies, I'm doing her a favor. Look at her, poor thing'd be wasted on the rank and file." He smiled fondly at the girl on his arm, her tanned face well obscured by raven hair as she slept. Her features were only slightly marred by still wet stains. He resolved to clean her when he had the chance, no need to let the poor girl know just how deep he'd really cut.

"You really are an utter bastard, you know that?" A stocky man in Anbu garb dropped from a tree to examine Crows passenger as he walked, his mask hinted at a short, flat beak, its representation hard to discern in the shade. With a barrel shaped body atop short legs he was obviously very strong, if not a born runner.

"Why is it that nobody said such vicious things to _my _recruiter?" Crow asked mournfully, picking his way through a clump of bushes speckled with red berries, steps silent out of habit more than necessity.

"'Cause Heron was a psychotic bitch, that's why! We're not as scared of you," chirped a young woman trailing behind them both, hands clasped behind her back. "You only kill people because you're a vicious, calculating snake. She killed them because she got off on blood." The beaked Anbu grunted in agreement, nodding lightly.

"She most certainly did not," Crow snapped. "Someone had to show me the ropes, is all. I'll be doing the same for young Heron, here."

"The ropes, right. I'm sure you saw plenty of those during off hours," the woman teased, raising her voice. "You think his little genin, excuse me, chuunin, will be getting any extra lessons, Mal?"

Crow sniffed, "Only if she asks nicely and washes behind her ears, Dove."

"Her eyes are shiny, sucker bet," Malard rumbled, crouching to examine a tag attached to a tree root. "This bit really is fine, the kid did this?"

"Taught her everything she knows," Crow replied modestly. "Deployment was pretty basic make work but she caught on to the exercise quick. Didn't blow herself up once, either. Even I got singed a couple times."

Dove kicked the root solidly as she passed, complaining loudly and fingering a short black braid behind her ear, "I hate these stupid things. Lose my hair to them once a year at least."

Malard snorted, "Clumsy is as clumsy does."

"Choke on a chicken and die, esteemed partner," Dove advised sweetly.

"Now, now, children. You'll wake the little."

Malard turned to stare, arms crossed. "After what you did? She'll be lucky if she wakes up at all after an infusion like that."

"I was gentle!" Crow protested, coming to a stop in front of his partner.

"Is that what you call it? I've been your medic for years and I still don't know what the hell Heron's imprint did, here you've gone and done the same thing to some random genin you picked up in the forest," Malard shook his head, speaking quickly. "It's your call to take an apprentice as well, of course. No surprise."

Crow sighed, shifting Kurenai in his grasp, keenly aware that he'd be fighting hard to keep her in the coming weeks if they survived. "Politics." Malard watched him silently. "There wasn't much of a choice. The bastard who assigned her to our section either wanted her dead or in Anbu. Knowing the council I'd say the former," he nodded to the mask laying on her chest, also more than a little bloodied. "Birds with stones and all that."

"Can you honestly tell me that you're not going to do the same thing to her as Heron did to you?" Malard pressed.

Crow's eyes narrowed, and he held his charge to his chest with an injured air. "It worked, didn't it?" he asked with just a hint of challenge in his voice.

Dove clucked her tongue and stepped between her fellows, calloused palms raised threateningly, "Shut up, both of you. Less button pressin', more movin'." Where Crow and Malard were lanky and built to lift buildings respectively, Dove made a fair attempt at being both. Though physically smaller than the men, her movements were much more assured, leaving Malard looking clumsy and Crow indecisive. Her mask bore an extra feature, a deep gouge ran across her eyes. Smiling to herself, she bent over the new arrival, clasping her hands again. "Helps that she's pretty, I'll bet." She snickered, and her team mates backed away from her warily, conflict forgotten. "What, scared of little old me?"

Malard retreated to the canopy hastily, unwilling to risk bearing the brunt of the woman's levity, she tended to go from giggling quietly to shrieking in hysterics in short order. He'd tried drugging her once to quiet her down. To his chagrin the attempt had only made her worse, leaving him with a sobbing, half naked woman draped over his lap and Crow passed out drunk at his feet. "You just do it to see us squirm," he muttered. Explaining that scene to the team a room over had been a depressing experience. Usually _he_ was the drunk on the floor, having fallen off the ceiling.

"Pervert," Dove crooned at his tree as she stomped past him.

Malard groaned in despair. "How do you _do_ that?"

Crow merely shrugged and hummed as he walked, pleased beyond measure that someone else thought his new chuunin was pretty too.

"Really, how is that possible?"

"I can see your face, hun. The mask ain't that tough."

_()_

A flick of red hair, a kind word and a smile, that was all they needed. That wasn't all they wanted, they'd do anything for her. Maybe that was why she hated them so much? All these _people_, simpering and smiling and bowing and flirting, beaming when she so much as glanced their way. Weak, stupid and ultimately helpless. Speak of the devil. "Afternoon, Tsu-kun, good hunting!"

"You too, Kushina-sama," a hesitant, blushing reply. There was something vaguely mournful about this one, like a three legged puppy. She watched him hurry away, hefting a solidly built oak crate in both arms. At least the young man was doing something useful, the world could always use more crates.

Kushina strongly encouraged familiarity with the file, it made everything so much easier. A disappointed look here, a Cheshire grin there, it didn't take much effort. Having her way with them was easy after they developed some silly attachment. There, a jealous glance, exactly the kind of cry for attention she was happy to reward. "Mochi! How's your team?" Worm, I pity your students, do you even know where they are?

"Split, currently. I've got a couple helping somewhere along the line," the stern looking man answered, unconcerned.

Oh, how she hated them. If she could live to see every last one burn she'd die a happy woman. A pity it wouldn't happen.

"Keeping them busy, huh? Good thing, genin always do have too much energy," bright, bubbly drivel. Earning loyalty for the cause with every sickeningly inane comment and gut wrenching smile. "Have you seen any Anbu captains in the area? I need to have a chat with one."

"That I have," Mochi replied a little too quickly, only remembering to point the way after a moment's thought. "Half a click, the three pillars."

"Thanks, see you!" Kushina waved a goodbye and bounced away, repressing a shudder. She wanted to kill someone, just a little blood, a touch of pain. This act was driving her insane. Kushina wanted her boys, they never failed to make her feel better, and to her, that devotion was worth so much more than anything else.

"Bear, report." At least the Anbu remembered who she was, they listened. Better still, they didn't argue with her.

"Yes. We're neari-"

It had always made her proud that her boys tried to get their way, even if they only got what she allowed them no matter how they tried. Kushina smiled, they really were adorable. Especially poor Minato, the boy should be waking up about now. It was so cute, how he hated being called by his given name.

Minato _always_ lost their arguments. She'd make it up to him this time, she was going to make his idiot plan work. All it needed was a heron's touch.

_()_

The mid day sun had only just begun to give way, taking great pains to cook those unfortunate enough to be in its path as it did. "Not my concern, team three can worry about it! I can't work that many circuits at once. Tell your team lead that he needs another specialist, It's not possible for me to pick up that much slack." Crow was speaking quietly with a short man in a white technicians frock, stabbing viciously at a heavily carved tree with a stiff wire brush. Around them a number of wary chuunin looked on, each carrying a thick cord of wire gingerly in gloved hands. "Right, you, slot it in," Crow waved a man forward impatiently, bending to dip his brush in a bowl filled with a gritty, dark brown paste. A blue spark arced from its lip to sizzle through a blade of grass, causing the gathered chuunin to back away.

One of them muttered darkly, glaring at the mishappen tree. "This had better be worth it. If the fox walks a little to the left he'll miss the whole damned trench."

"Quiet, do you want him to make a mistake?" another growled.

Malard stood nearby, watching the men gathered around the tree with care. He held a bulging green medical bag in hand, it dangled from wide, sturdy straps. "Chuunin on line four, back out. It's pulsing again."

Dove came running just as a pale faced man gingerly pulled his line away from the group, loping over and between the web of cords cluttering the clearing to whisper in his ear, "Beaky, someone screwed up. I've got two squads of med nin here lookin' for the third field hospital," she huffed. "Been herdin' cats all day. The general population are just about on their way, we won't have to worry about em after all."

"Good, that's one less problem," Malard shook his head wearily. "Send the new arrivals down the second line, west. Bear can get them where they need to go. Where the hell did all these medics come from, anyway? We've had a shortage for months," Malard's voice was a low murmur, to most their conversation was silent. They were both too tired to bother with hand signals.

Dove shrugged. "Can do. Whats up with this guy? Her highness' big plan not sittin' well with the file?" She motioned to the unhappy chuunin curiously.

Malard moved the bag to his shoulder. "No, they don't have a clue about what they're doing. Keep it that way, he's afraid that he's about to be incinerated. Be a good soldier and check down his line, alright? Hurt them for me if they're getting it wrong." She nodded, pausing next to the chuunin before sprinting along the line's length into the forest. Dove could see it better than Malard ever could without even turning her head, her rather pitied her for that at times.

"Gaaaah," Crow hissed. "No good, your turn," he muttered unhappily to the technician. The brush lay on the packed dirt, smoking faintly next to a wincing chuunin's foot. A brush shaped brand was burnt neatly into the palm of Crow's right glove. Feeling his hand with care, he hopped over a coil of wire and strode to Malard, smiling faintly at the sight of Kurenai lodged against a tree root, still fast asleep and now only a little messy. The sight of him setting the girl under the tree had set a few chuunin snickering, right until they'd seen the blood on his hands. He'd have to thank her for that later, good publicity was so hard to find in his line of work.

Malard chuckled, reaching into his bag. "This may sting a little."

_()_

"Um. You're still in Konoha, sir. She, erm. You know, she told us that you needed to cool off. Again."

"..." Arashi said nothing, loudly.

"For what it's worth, sir, she was very persuasive," the nervous woman apologized from somewhere beyond his blindfold. "You know she can do this thing with her fingers and a kunai? It- it's creepy, sir."

Arashi was unimpressed, he continued to say nothing, silently running through the many ways in which his captors would suffer upon his release. "..." He sat very still apart from his hands, which twitched incessantly.

"Thank you so very, very much for pissing him off even more," a loud smack. "Well done, now he'll kill our families too."

"Do you figure its safe to take the gag off?" a third voice questioned. "I've never seen anyone sign like that, it'd be funny if he weren't serious."

Pacing, measured steps. "She mentioned something about that as well, I think," a cool finger stroked his nose. "He'll be fine in time for his part, can't blame him for being a little reluctant," a feminine sigh followed. "Did he just say that he's going to kill my dog? How did he know I have a dog? I took a bath before I came here."

Snickering, a man replied. "And so, you smell like wet dog. Simple."

"Stop being so logical, you're ruining the mystique."

Arashi began to list the many and varied killing techniques he was familiar with in alphabetical order, making a few up as he went to cover the boring letters.

"Certainly didn't harm his creativity any, he's recovering smoothly."

"This is what, the third time we've had to do this? He probably knows our favorite foods by now." Arashi paused in his tirade, rapidly conveying that while he was unfamiliar with the standard battle com signal for "Strawberry Shortcake", he could come remarkably close. He then went on to explain in loving detail exactly what the man could do with his cake in a dark room with the aid of a sword before Arashi caught up to him. "Good god, he does. This job just keeps getting better."

_()_

Movement, she was moving! Kurenai pouted, she was sleepy, her head hurt.

"Yes ser, the file did a good job there. We did lose a couple thanks to a bad fuse, I'm afraid."

She shivered, Crow was cold. What happened to the knives? She didn't like the knives, the knife. It was a mean thing, Crow was mean. He could have just asked.

"Our section is pretty much hands off 'till the real show starts, can't do much about it. Hey, jounin! The lines are set, right?"

Where was he?

"Pick up the girl already, she's callin' for ya."

Where was Crow? She needed him, he'd said, he'd said something. Did he say something? She coul-Crow! Crow was... Why did it matter so much? Her head hurt.

"Couple hours to go, good luck out there."

"All clear."

Kurenai was warm, very, very warm. It was nice, she thought.

_()_

Someone was talking to her. Well, they could go climb a tree. She was comfortable right where she was, thank you.

"Time for work, little Heron."

"Nnn," Kurenai argued.

"You snore, you know. I'm going to drop you in the river if you don't wake up."

This registered, she knew that voice. Opening her eyes, she saw grey. She blinked blearily, more grey, it moved a bit. She looked up. "Evening, Heron," Crow said breezily. Then he dropped her. Kurenai was anything if not quick, twisting wildly she made the landing on her knees rather than on her back, snarling. Crow appeared for all the world as if he hadn't just threatened her life and slit her throat to prove a point. Kurenai glowered up at him, her face heating. She realized that he must have had the nerve to carry her. Because of him she'd _fallen asleep_ during the most important mission of her life. No need to be violent, though. She could be mature about this. Stupid Anbu. Crow turned absently, calling to someone behind him, "See? I told you she was good. All mine, you can't have her." Kurenai stood quietly, brushing red clay off the knees of her faded leggings. The cliff wall towering over her and stream gurgling somewhere nearby told her where she was, roughly. "Cutest little-" Cute?

Kurenai dropped low, kicking Crows legs out from under him with all the force she could muster. She was pleasantly surprised to see him fall as she bounced to her feet. "Shut up." A light boot to the side, he deserved it after scaring her. "Just. Shut. Up. You've been playing these stupid games with me all day!" He didn't look sorry enough, so she booted him again, just hard enough to make her displeasure known.

"It was for your own good," Crow whined and cradled his head, cringing.

She growled, spitting her words. "Don't you dare poke any more kunai at me. It's not funny, and I am not cute!" Breathing deeply she looked up from her minder's exaggerated agony, only to freeze with a squeak of surprise.

"Told you she was cute," Crow said, dusting himself off and standing briskly.

Kurenai suddenly felt even warmer than she had before. She'd just made an utter fool of herself in front of an audience. They didn't look very friendly, either. A hulking Anbu sat with his legs hanging off a man height boulder while his smaller, no less menacing counterpart leaned with her back against its side, hands held loosely in front of her body. Their masks stared at her, unmoving. This was unexpected, Kurenai resolved to run with it. Crow _had_ mentioned something about joining the Anbu when she'd gone to sleep, or was knocked out, either way. Questions could come later. Looking up, she saw the sun was well on its way to setting, evening clouds were already making their appearance.

Crow padded to her side, all confidence and good cheer despite the clay in his hair. The red dust clung grimly to the drooping strands, whatever he'd used to blacken it was sticky. Kurenai fancied that he might be a blonde for the lengths he went to hide the color. "Heron, meet fire team five" Kurenai straightened, nodding at the name. "The sour looking fellow up there is Malard. Medic nin and monkey at heart, he prefers to stay ten feet off the ground at all times." Kurenai blinked as the vertically inclined man waved jerkily at her. His hair, at least, was clay free and quite brown, cropped much shorter than Crow's scruffy mane.

"Pleasure to meet you, Heron. I'm the reason Crow still has full use of his legs, among other things," his voice was a pleasantly reassuring, a deep sound. It certainly was far removed from Crow's ever changing tone. She nodded in greeting, choosing to speak after the introduction.

"The tiny one below him, that's Dove, she's the brawn of the group." Kurenai glanced between Crow and the woman, searching for the joke.

Dove broke her silence and called out happily, patting the boulder with a hand and chipping off a bit of stone with a sharp crack, a wisp of grey smoke rose from it lazily. "He means it, Hun. I'm much scarier than these two. Nice t' meetcha."

Kurenai bowed deeply. "Thank you, pleased to meet you as well."

"Aaaand the one who looks like she wants to tear off my head and shove her hand down my throat is Owl. She's oversight for our section, she also hates me very much." This was a surprise, Kurenai hadn't noticed anyone else. She followed Crows gaze, he was looking behind her.

Kurenai only barely managed to avoid jumping when she heard a throaty purr over her head. "Evening, Heron. Welcome to Anbu." Stepping smartly toward Crow and turning to keep the group of Anbu in her vision, Kurenai made her escape from the dangerous sounding woman. She stared, Owl really did look as if she was unhappy about something, she was taller than Crow and wound like a spring, standing at what might have been called a parade rest had she not looked as if she intended to commit murder with a blunt instrument. Kurenai shivered as the woman regarded her, looking to Crow for direction.

Crow nudged her shoulder playfully and whispered brightly, "If you were wondering, the mask is on your face." Kurenai was surprised by this and pressed a hand to her cheek. She could feel it, she could even see her fingers stop short of her skin. Somehow her vision remained unobscured and her head light. This was odd, it occurred to her that nobody had seen her blush. Suddenly concerned, she felt her throat. It didn't hurt at all, small victories came in pairs.

Owl shook her head sternly, scolding, "You could at least have told her that much, Crow. I'll let you break in the newbie on your own time." She spun and strode away, hips swaying. "You have your orders."

"Good luck Owl. Don't die on me yet, I owe you for this." Crow flatly refused to be serious.

"Take care, team five." Owl paused at the tree line and looked over her shoulder before making a sharp gesture with her hand.

Crow waited only briefly before following, waving at Kurenai to remain behind as he jogged. "Play nice, I'll be back soon." Kurenai watched the pair melt into the forest, certain that she was missing something significant. Dove caught her eye and shrugged before looking up at Malard.

"Wanna bet he comes back limpin'?"

"Do I look like I enjoy lost causes? She's almost as mean as the other. I'll be surprised if he can crawl back unassisted." Malard was obviously bored, studying the cliff wall with his arms crossed.

"Betcha drinks he comes back fine," Dove tried again, intent on getting at least one good gamble in.

"You're on. Now stop corrupting the newbie, she'll get the wrong idea if you keep this up."

"What, me?" Dove snickered.

Kurenai thought this as good a time as any to ask some questions, raising a brow at Malard's flinch. Was he scared of the woman? Best not to ask that one.

* * *

A/N:

My first attempt at juggling a larger number of characters, just a bit longer than the rest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**4**

* * *

Sitting tied to a chair and blindfolded for his own health, Arashi remembered how he'd gotten there. Despite his colorful threats he couldn't really hold it against the group of medics, and he knew exactly who they were and why they were there. Kushina had a way with both words and poison, leaving him without the aid of an assisted med nin would have killed him as surely as blade in the back. She was simply doing what she felt was right, as if she knew better, as usual. Maybe she did, but he was damned if he wouldn't stop her if he could. Sighing heavily, he accepted a sip of water. Another hour and he'd be good as new, she certainly knew how to keep a man busy.

_()_

The sun was shining, birds were singing, and the population of a tatty fifth floor corner office wished the damnable things would just drop dead. Some meetings simply didn't mesh with lusty chirps. Sunlight shone uncomfortably through the wide, open window along the length of the room to paint the soot stained walls a washed out orange. To those who weren't being blinded, the view was lack luster. A spectacular display of shoddy workmanship lent the neighboring building an air of imminent disaster, with a rusted water tower leaning dangerously over its side, presumably eying the street below for a convenient spot to land. The crowd was an even mix of jounin and chuunin with no Anbu visible in attendance, every one of them a leader in their field. Arashi stood at the head of the pack, wedged awkwardly between a lectern and a tall easel that proudly displayed a weathered map of the continent. On it, a number of red lines portrayed this and the other while a few green squiggles noted this and that, it was all very technical. A hand sized drawing of a black cat sat pinned over the location of Konoha, neatly obscuring all but the 'K' in childish scrawl.

"So we're in the way," deadpanned a grizzled jounin, shaking his head gravely with his unshaven face just barely in shadow. He leaned beside the closed wooden door with five others, doing his part to avoid jostling the swarm of people wedged around the oval table running the length of the room. The amount of scribbled paper and odd fashion statements present wouldn't have been out of place at a particularly disreputable tabloid. Such was life.

"Right, it's a straight line from the coast," Arashi rapped a bright red line with his knuckles. "For whatever reason it's cutting a path 'cross country. So far it's taken out two stone outposts and a small neutral city." His tone was bone dry.

"Any casualties?" Asked an older woman from midway down the table. Her question was not out of any concern for some thousand civilians, it was Stone that worried her. Peace was a relative term, she knew.

"Plenty, if this is a plot of theirs it's been an expensive one. They hadn't pulled back their troops in the area at the time, the first loss was so great that they didn't believe their own reports. We only received word a week after one of our own scout teams saw the second location wiped out." Reactions to this last were varied and immediate, Arashi raised a hand sharply. "If this comes as a surprise, you _know_ why you didn't hear about it." Glaring, he dispelled any notion that he could be bullied, a handful of chuunin quieted, once again well aware of their own unimportance. "Clearance is no longer an issue, just roll your eyes and make rude noises if you've heard the background before," he smiled slightly when he was rewarded with a snicker and continued. "What we're facing is a real, live, myth. We've known that greater demons exist for centuries, they pop up now and then to level a few buildings and get sealed when someone gets tired of having their crops burnt. This one, though, hasn't been around recently, and accounts place him as a larger problem than usual."

One of the younger jounin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, asking the appropriate leading question, "Cute, what makes this one so special?" He was a veteran of many a briefing, he knew the script.

A bespectacled youth piped up from the back of the room, waving a hand airily, "It's hard to say, apart from some magic number. The Kyuubi seems to be the most powerful there is by a mile and its behavior is just as unique. Once every week it appears and annihilates everything in the area from dusk 'til dawn, disappearing with the sun. We know the fox first appeared on the coast, but it's impossible to say whether it was hiding, asleep, sealed, or even swimming across the ocean. What it wants is also a mystery."

Arashi nodded, jabbing at the map once more. "The latest demonic event we know of apart from this took place only a few months ago in Wind country, the one tail. It was roughly twice as tall as Gamabunta before an old man sealed it into his tea kettle out of desperation. Now it spends its days burning water." Pausing, he shuffled to the side, brushing past a stocky man's seat on his way to the window. "Common history shows hard record of at least seven, each with a different number of tails and a distinct form. The only one with absolutely no recent word is this little bastard, number nine. The oldest legend in our library pegs the fox's natural form at about a foot tall." Silence greeted him, waving its arms and shouting happily. He appreciated their enthusiasm. "From reports, there's some truth to that. The fox doesn't simply disappear once it's done playing, it just reverts to its usual form and goes on its way."

A mousy woman buried her face in her hands, "Why does he sound like he's serious?"

The looks of disgust on the faces in the room were humbling, one jounin rubbed his temples tiredly, "How the hell do you kill something that small if it can level a city?"

"You don't. The real trick is how to _seal_ something that small," Arashi sighed. "As the good man said, the fox appears once a week in all its mountain crushing, building toppling glory. The next stop is right outside Konoha, I intend to take it down by force, and my beautiful assistant is going to tell you how. Keep in mind that the Anbu have been working on this for a month, assignments are not up for negotiation." He grinned as the man who'd spoken up before stared in frustration at the crowded room ahead of him, "Come on, then." The man glared bitterly at him before clambering awkwardly up the wall and along the ceiling with a sheaf of paper in hand, cursing when he bumped into a hanging lamp. The assembled nin were kind enough not to snicker, fearing that the clumsy career secretary would fall on their heads if they distracted him.

As it turned out, he made it just fine. If the ceiling was a little worse for wear, nobody cared to complain.

_()_

"Of the team that witnessed the attack, two members survived. One is currently still in intensive care missing half his leg. Barring hidden nerve damage he'd be functional in a year if he were awake. The other is-" Here the young man broke off, frowning at the sheet in his hand. "Mostly intact, is the term used here." He placed it on the lectern firmly. "Torture and Investigation's psych ward has been looking after them both, the reports aren't pretty."

A double handful of the nin blanched. 'Mostly intact' was an interesting euphemism only used by the sadists, normally it was reserved for their victims. To hear one of their own men described as such did not bode well. Those who weren't familiar with that aspect of their profession merely looked interested.

"Simply put, it's huge-"

Arashi poked his head out the window, accepting a letter from a small Anbu operative wearing a heavily painted mask with more red lines than white, couriers lead a bloody existence. He'd heard it all before, first hand. The survivors had a disturbing look to them, even far removed from the event they twitched and cried in their sleep. The men had been broken, something that didn't happen easily.

"- may be nigh infinite, but its capacity for regeneration most certainly isn't. You must understand that we _can_ hurt it, no matter how intimidating it looks. Elemental attacks had a visible effect on its aura and physical form, explosives also proved capable of damaging it. The difficulty is that only repeated attacks had any lasting-"

He sat lazily on the windowsill, listening to his secretary go through the horror story. The kind of damage done to the pair was a sort that did not happen often, only prolonged torture or incredibly powerful illusion could have had such a marked effect on his scouts. They were conditioned to take the worst an opponent could throw at them and carve their names in their corpses in response. Assault teams had nothing on Konoha's dedicated scouts when it came to mental stability. These people lived to survive above all else, reporting back able and sane was their sworn duty. He was proud of them for returning at all, they were brave, good men. After some thought Arashi decided against buying them little plush foxes to commemorate the occasion, perhaps if he survived the week. A new chuunin he didn't recognize looked at him oddly when he smirked, she'd learn.

"When the second trench fires, it's up to the recon' teams to give the mission a go. If you see yellow, follow your section combat assignments. If you see green, it's a general retreat. No heroics, no last stands. You will turn and run to fall back positions for all you're worth. The fox can't get us all in-"

Brutal, but true. Civilians were being spread out in a fan away from the village. Perhaps a third of them would be slaughtered if the beast made it through, a dangerous number, but not an impossible one. The people of Konoha would survive for better or worse. The city certainly wouldn't, though. The explosives being deployed were of the same sort that had been used to excavate the area in which it now stood, only on a much wider scale. Even at range the shock would be too much for buildings long neglected. The war had taken its toll.

"-groups one through four will be handling deployment of the network, the squad leaders have already been briefed. I urge you to help them as you can, it'll be tough going to set everything up in time. We have two days, make them count."

One bright spark realized that his home wasn't likely to survive the detonation and trumpeted a note of dissatisfaction. "Why the hell are we using a net like that if standard attacks work too? You just said that fighting it isn't purely suicidal, we're killing the patient here."

Arashi raised a hand again to quiet the lecture. "I'd like to add one thing. Those scouts were broken by their contact with the fox. My best guess is that its aura has a dangerous illusory component. A large reason we're going in this heavy on explosives is to weaken it enough that it won't be able to maintain that field. Chances are you'll feel the effect anyway, caution your men that the illusion can not be dispelled normally. They'll have to bear with it or retreat piecemeal. Standard numbing techniques may work, keep it practical." He surveyed the room, seeing looks of comprehension dawn on a few faces before nodding at the lecturer to continue. "Apologies, carry on."

"Not a problem, Hokage-sama. Regarding the evacuation-"

Arashi was grateful to have such eager subordinates, they actually enjoyed talking to rooms of unpleasant looking killers. He sat back in the window and flipped open the letter with a practiced motion, waving to a passing genin bounding over the rooftops before scanning it wearily. He hated paperwork. Arashi stared at the signature, even paperwork from the Third, what did he want?

Presently, Arashi felt as if he'd been kicked by a mule.

_()_

Somehow he really hadn't expected the view to be quite so breathtaking. He'd seen it many times in the past, after all. Perhaps it was just the line of molten fire tracing a ragged path down his ribs that colored his perception. This tired city of his, it had its own special beauty to it even now. On the ground and in the air it retained a sense of power, nobility and danger that no amount of battle damage or failed topiary could hope to tarnish. Far below he could make out ribbons of brightly dressed citizens being escorted through the gates and open tunnels that had seen so little use over the years. From his place atop the Third's stone head he didn't often have to worry quite so much about being jumped by a random assassin with designs upon his mortality. That had often proved to be worth the climb more than anything else, safety had been increasingly hard to come by as the years wore on. Even in his tower the clerks carried their own, special sort of threat. His vision wavered, he might have done with being a little less complacent this time. Turning his head sluggishly he watched a small group of genin argue on a rooftop. An eyebrow quirked after he saw a pair of them hug, were they saying at tearful farewell, wishing each other luck? He'd leave them their moment, he had one of his own to deal with.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Arashi asked without preamble. His question was hard, accusing.

"I, I." Kushina trailed off as she looked to her feet, feeling a hint of guilt. "I was afraid that you'd hate me," she whispered, sometimes he could make her feel as if she was being needlessly cruel. It was the right thing to do regardless. The silly boy simply didn't understand, he'd have tried to stop her. Really, it was his fault that he hadn't noticed her scheme earlier, he was too trusting. She slipped her bloodied dagger back into the sheath on her right thigh.

"And how did you think I'd feel after learning from someone _else_ that you intended this? That you wouldn't tell me? You said you'd stay clear, I believed you," Arashi chuckled mirthlessly and turned. "I don't need you to do this." He groaned, falling to his knees. The line of heat was spreading quickly, working its way through his limbs and dimming his vision. He knew better than to try to fight it, every movement, every flash of irritation brought him closer to death or to sleep. Even after years in her company he couldn't be sure whether she intended to kill him.

Kushina squared her shoulders, then again, sometimes he really could be such an ungrateful brat. She felt herself slip, "You don't need me, is that right?" She advanced on him with slow, careful steps, unsure of his debilitation. "Are these the words of the man I carried home at least once a week because he was too stupid to stop flashing into trees? Is that what you have to say after you decide to take on a demon alone?" Growling, "Is the mother of your child not good enough to fight by your side?"

"No! That's, that's not what I... What I meant." It was getting harder to breathe, she knew, she knew why.

Kushina crouched and took his face in her hand, smiling cruelly and caressing his cheek with her thumb, "Then tell me, what did you mean? I'm not stupid, love. I saw it on your face that morning." Gently she lifted one of his nerveless arms, placing his hand over her belly, only ever so slightly rounded. "It wouldn't have worked, but this will. The first seal, love, the one you gave up on. That's what we'll do."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can, and I will. The sooner you realize that you're not going to do this alone, the better off you'll be." The words were unkind, to his ears. The words didn't make sense anymore. Heat, more heat. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. It burned, oh gods, it burned, what was she saying? He'd never allow her to- "Mmf!" Kushina covered his lips with hers, taking what she wanted. Nipping playfully, she ran her fingers through his hair before she set him down.

Kushina giggled at his feeble attempts to resist, holding a finger over his mouth, "Don't act so flustered, you'll wake up soon. Remember to miss us lots, okay? We'll be waiting for you." He didn't see her hesitate before she left. He didn't see her tears. He only heard her stand. His heart was breaking and it was all his fault, he could have stopped her. There was one person he could never say no to, he was a coward to the last. He laughed weakly.

"Um, sir? Sir, are you in pain?" That timid voice again, the woman touched his face, fingers catching on wet fabric.

Arashi scowled, the blindfold wasn't black. It was the man who liked strawberries who came to his aid. "Leave him alone, he's fine."

"But-"

"Don't argue with me. Let him be."

* * *

A/N:

It continues, now with more Minato. Arashi. Eeny meeny, lets call the latter an adopted nick name and leave it at that, I've gone back and fiddled with the naming convention.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**5**

* * *

"I am shocked, devastated, ah, appalled! Simply appalled that you would dare to insinuate that I could be a bad influence on the newbie," Dove cried, doing her very best impression of one of Crow's snootier accents. Kurenai didn't think it particularly apt.

Malard didn't seem to feel that it deserved much in the way of praise either. His reply was disgusted, "Let it be, would you? You sound like an idiot."

Not one to be discouraged, Dove placed a limp hand on her brow and swooned, "I'm hurt!" This she managed with more grace, contorting to view her audience with her chin pointing to the sky.

"It's not funny when he does it, and it's even less so coming from you. Shut up already," grated Malard.

Kurenai felt a grin weasel its way across her face, she liked these people. "I'm sorry, but could you explain things to me?" She'd keep it general, with luck the duo might actually bicker their way to a coherent answer. She still wasn't sure how to address them, was she high enough on the ladder to refer to them by name?

Dove bobbed her head, still earthbound, "Sure, sure, ya missed the briefin', huh?"

"Genin don't get briefings, they get orders."

Malard waved her closer, snorting. "Some of us have all the luck, welcome to the club. He didn't go into the details with you?"

Kurenai stepped daintily over the red clay and scattered rocks to join her new team mates. "Crow didn't say much," she shrugged.

_()_

Kushina sported a wan smile, savoring the evening air. Her figure was dwarfed by the shadow of the ancient oak she leaned against. It slouched unhappily, sporting a hundred or more odd designs on its hide, a handsome mockery. One rusted kunai poked out from its length to stain the wood beneath it an unpleasant red. She crooned sweetly, holding a severed lock of red hair between greasy fingers. Her hands were filthy.

"One for the morning."

Flick. Dusk was trotting merrily on its way, preparations were all but complete, and her sweet prince was well.

"One for the night."

Twist. Demons are primal things, they exist because they can. There is no suffering to such a creature, there are only obstacles to be overcome. Kushina thought that to be admirable, in a way.

"One for the then."

Loop. To seal a demon was a simple thing in theory. All that a body needed was to weaken it sufficiently for a set of seals to channel and cage what was left. Absolutely anything could be locked away with enough power; weapons, food, even people. And a demon no matter how strong, was no exception. They could be caged and locked away like any other creature, it was all a matter of cost. It was unfortunate that to seal the nine tail would take both her life and that of her lover, despite the mans touching attempt to do without her. That sacrifice, for what, a century of peace? A decade?

"One for the now."

Thread. She shook her head deliberately, there was no closure to it, no satisfaction. The fox would understand only that it had been stopped, there would be no regret, no pain. There could be no justice without understanding. Kushina was fond of justice, it was a pleasant word, a concept she had always enjoyed. It had always made her smile.

"One for the living."

Pull. If the fox did not feel pain, she would become its teacher. And if it could not know fear, she would mold it until it did.

"And two for the dead."

Knot. What the demon lacked, she felt, was humanity.

_()_

Dove really didn't seem to have much in common with the classical take on her namesake. Rude, lively, and above all, cheeky, her version of their orders was much more interesting than anything Malard had come up with. Kurenai imagined that she would work well with the woman.

"Right, you won't be seein' much of us. We'll be down the line havin' some fun with the mortar teams. They get antsy if they don't have someone scary to watch 'em work," she spoke over Malard, happily drowning whatever explanation he'd been aiming for. He just glared down at her tiredly from his boulder, leaning forward with elbows on his knees.

"As I was saying," Malard stopped, watching Dove warily as she moved to look through a pouch. "Do you have anything else to add?"

"Not yet, no," the woman replied vaguely, examining the blade of a kunai with a critical eye. She ran the pad of her thumb down its edge with a rough motion.

"Wonderful." Kurenai watched his shoulders droop with amusement. "Laugh it up, kid. Now, your job is the important bit." She cocked her head questioningly. "You get to look after Crow." Kurenai winced, somehow she wasn't in the least surprised.

Her displeasure did not go unnoticed. "Get used to it, you're his apprentice. As such, it's up to you to keep him out of trouble," Malard explained this to her solemnly. Kurenai was not enthused, this sounded backwards and sideways. Wasn't he the one who'd been doing the unsolicited cutting and the stabbing earlier? Crow was free to drop off the face of the earth as far as she was concerned. "He'll be maintaining the nodes along the second trench line, the big trees we tied all the fuses to."

Kurenai blinked. "All of them?"

"Every last one. It won't be easy, but we need it to go smoothly. Seal masters aren't as common as they were."

"Kablooie! You see what he means about baby sittin'? Crow's gonna be in rough shape," Dove added, waving her hands, her kunai was nowhere to be seen. She batted away the pebble Malard flung at her head as a reward for her contribution and waggled a finger at him, "Bigger rocks, Beak. Bigger rocks."

Kurenai understood better than she might have liked, having set her fair share of the tags involved. The concept was simple, one tag exploding prematurely would damage the tags around it, reducing the total yield. Detonating every tag in an area simultaneously was what the command seals were for, and the special trees were serving to regulate groups of those in turn. The second trench was the make or break point for the operation, if it failed to harm the fox a general retreat would become a very real possibility. The first trench was more a glorified explosive early warning system than a practical deterrent in comparison.

"It's pretty rough, yeah," Dove noted, watching her carefully. "The short of it? We can't afford to waste people by playin' it safe."

"I understand," her voice was subdued, Kurenai did not like this.

Malard snapped his fingers. "Ah, I've got something for you," he spent a moment sifting through his bag, grumbling when his search was met with resistance. "Here, this should tide him over after the fact," he held out a drab leather pouch, it bulged grotesquely. "Just a bit of medication for chakra exhaustion. When he drops, shove this down his throat and pray," he chuckled, seeing Kurenai tense at the words.

Dove turned to face her partner, clucking. "That's a little blunt, don'tcha think?"

Kurenai took the small bag gently, worried. "Um," she didn't know what to say.

"I'm a medic, not a priest. I'm allowed to give practical advice," Malard returned blandly, the very picture of innocence.

"What?" Dove sputtered, staring up at him, "...What?"

Malard snorted at her and brought his attention back to Kurenai with a smile, he allowed it to carry into his speech. "Listen, kid. Crow is going to push himself, but once he fires the trench I want you to drag his sorry carcass off the line and drop him under a tree somewhere. He won't be tracking right, just get him moving before he burns out. You're familiar with the effects of exhaustion?"

"I am," Kurenai replied, remembering her own encounter with the condition. One terrifying night spent laying face down in a gully with water running under her nose had cured her of any desire to work past her limits. She knew exactly where they lay, she'd left them with the corpse of a Stone nin.

Malard carried on, sliding smoothly from his boulder to stand beside Dove. "He'll be sitting under the heading of 'worst case'. If he survives, he survives, there's not much we can do about it either way. Just drag him off after the big bang. Beyond that, it's up to the rest of us."

Kurenai clipped the nameless remedy to her belt, "When are we-"

_()_

"Feeling any ill effects?" Strawberry Shortcake inquired, hefting a bulky pack upon his shoulder. His companions had wandered off, leaving him with more medical _necessities_ than he could ever have wanted. Just in case, of course. Never mind that he had no use for an extra three hundred seventy six and a half shuriken and a smallish stuffed bear with soulful eyes and purple fur.

Blond hair shook, "None, I'll be on my way shortly, Hoshi."

"You knew my name, too," Hoshi laughed, shoving the toy deeper into his pack. As mascots went, it wasn't a bad one. He only wished that his team mates would stop saluting the damned thing whenever he pulled it out.

Arashi pulled a tight grin and rose out of a deep stretch, "Did you think I wouldn't?"

"I'd hoped," Hoshi admitted, not unhappily.

"You're an optimist of the highest order, then. You're free, go find your unit," Arashi made a brief shooing motion, bending again at the waist. There was a time when he'd disliked stretching, he'd gotten over it quickly.

The old Anbu shuffled to an open window, glancing out before speaking to his latest patient with amusement, "No mutilation?"

"We'll discuss it over lunch, go."

"Fair enough."

_()_

There were times when a man could be forgiven for being nervous. Watching Owl stalk ahead of him, Crow felt a certain amount of trepidation. They'd been moving for some time, did she intend to yell at him that loudly?

"Owl?"

Owl stopped in mid stride, pivoting on one leg to face him squarely. "You're sick," she spat, voice rough.

Crow caught himself before bumping into her, rocking back on his heels. He hadn't thought her to be quite that irritated, somewhat annoyed, perhaps. "You know, I've been getting that a lot," he drawled, feeling slightly put out.

"You aren't even human anymore, are you?" The owl raised its head, red and white swirls becoming something more between the shaded trees, oozing intent.

Crow rolled his shoulders, not intimidated in the least. This was neither the lecture nor the news he'd been dreading. "Is this about Heron?" he asked quizzically.

The owl wavered and a simple bone white mask rested in its place, red lines nothing more than an interesting accent. Crow watched his captain with concern, her shoulders were quivering. "You... You idiot!" her bubbling giggle rang in his ears. "You are such an idiot. I don't know how I put up with you." She pulled him into a tight hug, reminding him once more that Owl was, as always, just a little more expressive than was wise. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault," she whispered. Crow held her awkwardly, it seemed the safe thing to do. If anyone happened to be watching them they'd have to have words, however.

Crow mumbled quietly, feeling smothered, "Would it be unwise of me to inquire?" He really was getting worried.

Owl stepped back into a familiar stance, glaring at him with hands firmly planted on her hips. "You made a new Heron." Even as a genin she'd always talked down at him in that same way.

He sighed, "Yes?" Crow didn't mean to be patronizing, but he just couldn't help it when perfectly bright people insisted on repeating the obvious. In chorus, at length, for no good reason. "Did you expect me to do anything else? You're the one who assigned her to me after all. I requested permission for initiation, it was granted," Crow jabbed his thumb toward his team, annoyed. "Malard already gave me the lecture. It's done with, and have I mentioned that you're a bad influence on him?"

"I don't know if it's because you're just mean spirited by nature or if you really are stupid. You know what? That's fine, enjoy your replacement," Owl replied, words absolutely soaked in oil.

Crow flushed, everyone insisted on making things out to be worse than they were, "She is not a replacement!"

"Really?" Flat disbelief, a hint of mockery and just a pinch of deep disappointment. Wonderful.

"What do you want me to say? She's the right type, I can teach her." He sighed, Owl always had to be such a mother hen, she treated him like one of her puppies. Admittedly he was a puppy who could cut her into ribbons on a whim, but a puppy all the same.

Owl snorted, raising a hand to her face, "Twit. Go back to your pet, raise her well. You'll see what I meant one day."

"This is sounding awfully final, Owl."

The mask lifted to show pale lips pursed in a smile, "Don't die." Her eyes caught him, an uncharitable man might have called them brown. He'd miss those eyes.

Crow nodded, swallowing. "Good luck, say hello for me."

"I will," she grinned toothily.

They'd wasted enough time, they had places to be.

* * *

A/N:

Character development is like chicken soup.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**6**

* * *

Speed, that was the ticket. Arashi jogged in place, sketching a winding route through streets and over rooftops from memory as he did. There was a very simple trick to it, and he never ceased to be amazed that no one else had ever quite understood. Shaking his head, he fingered his cloak. It was tearing again, but he didn't have the patience to play with a needle.

A knot of heavily laden genin trundled past the building, complaining loudly over the clatter. One of them whined louder than the rest, something about bandages. Arashi smirked, he'd told the paper pushers that their numbers were conservative, now where were they? He winced in sympathy at the sound of breaking glass giving way to a stream of inventive curses. Someone wasn't having a good evening. It was nice to know that the troops were keeping busy, at least.

Poking his head out the open window, he gauged the sun. "Plenty of time." Awkwardly, he clambered up onto the sill and considered the three story drop with a rueful expression. Getting started was always the hard bit, briefly he considered paying the stairs a visit.

Leap, flicker. He missed using stairs, sometimes.

The roadway really was approaching awfully fast. Step, ouch, flicker.

_()_

"An' then what? You're gonna to wrestle me for it?" Dove yawned, raising both arms and lolling her head. She was happy for a chance to rest.

Malard waved a hand at her lazily, pack splayed open at his feet. He nudged it gently, searching for something with little in the way of urgency. "Pigs, do you see any of them flying, making little loops through the sky? I'll just steal it."

"Thief."

"Not unless you catch me, I'm not," Malard seemed vaguely triumphant at that.

As amusing, and enlightening, as the two Anbu had proved to be, Kurenai couldn't help but wish that Crow would hurry back. She'd run out of polite questions and they seemed content to keep up a constant banter that consisted of two parts outlandish threats and one part innuendo so low brow, for her money, that she couldn't even begin to understand. As far as she could tell just about every word in the book had some odd double meaning to these people, she might have been offended if it weren't all so silly. Thinking about it, she felt slightly cheated. With the war she'd never gotten to learn all the stupid things the adults took for granted. She'd been on the field since she was old enough to graduate, and her age group didn't have the highest of life expectancies. Socializing was for the dead and the well payed. She wondered when Crow would arrive, her rock wasn't the most comfortable. If she sighed, it was a small one.

Dove caught this and grinned, sensing a free shot, "Don't worry hun, your beu'll be back to put ya on your feet soon enough. That is, assuming Owl hasn't gone and killed him."

Kurenai's head swiveled to fix the woman with an icy glare. "That must be hard for you to imagine, spending so much of your time off them yourself, Anbu-san." She tried for arch, and even if it sounded slightly petulant, it got the job done.

"I don't- I. You!" Dove started, stopped, and started again, looking betrayed. Malard bit his tongue. "I can still see your face, Beak," Dove growled. Malard made a valiant effort to avoid snickering at her. There were some things he simply was not allowed to laugh at, Dove coming up short was one of them. Kurenai just grinned.

"You'll get yours," Dove assured her darkly, sulking.

_()_

"Move, move, move! Places to go, people to kill, move!" To a sufficiently motivated squad leader, fast was never quite fast enough. He frowned, muttering to himself. "And where the hell is Hoshi hiding?"

"The Hokage was having a word with him, meet up at site three once you're done," a blur replied, fluttering past.

"I don't care if he was delivering the Hokage's baby, we're running low on time," said the man, following at a more sedate pace. He was lugging a bundle of mismatched blankets and pots that felt half again his size over his shoulder. Field hospitals and shelters took time to set up, and life wasn't made any easier when the only answer to an unexpected supply shortage was to loot the city. A pained grunt and a thump from a nearby building made him pause to holler. "Genin, I don't want neat but I do want done! If it's in your way, break it!" A loud whoop and a thunderous crack was all the answer he needed.

He trudged on, clanking importantly and directing his destructive troop of otherwise useless clerks and brats with a will. He was only slightly surprised to see two burly genin trot past with a solid oak slab in tow. He approved, it would make a good table. Few homes contained furniture suitable for treating wounded, but the vast majority had sturdy entryways. There was a lot that could be said for a good door.

Someone, somewhere, had misplaced a few spare decimals on an inventory sheet, it was enough to make a grown man cry. Shaking his head in annoyance, he shouted, "Pack it up, we're off to see uncle Bear! Move!"

_()_

"Three little ducklings, all in a row," Crow clapped, stepping lightly out from behind the boulder.

The ducklings looked at him blankly, one perhaps a little less blankly than the rest. "Say that where I can hit you," Malard rumbled at him. Kurenai grinned behind her mask, Crow seemed no worse for wear.

"Maa, maa. Be happy. You're all caught up, then?" He asked, coming to stand beside Malard, only slightly worried by the threat.

Dove barked a laugh and bounced to her feet, eager to get moving. "Oh yes, and seein' as how you're still goin' about on two legs without the aid of a stick, Beaky here will be donating his next pay stub to the monthly booze fund."

Malard hunkered down, taking his bag in hand. "It'll be the good stuff, too. Only way I can live it down, again," he snorted. "You bet against her next time, only fair."

"I admire your spirit, Mal. Got any rations for us in that magic pack of yours?" Crow sounded hopeful, Kurenai thought, walking over to join them.

Malard stood smoothly and presented a pair of rations with a flourish.

"Appreciated." Crow tucked them away without further comment, bobbing his head in thanks.

Dove crossed her arms. "Listen, if _any_ of you die, I'm gonna make a point of dancing on the memorial stone. There will be booze, even if I have to buy it myself."

"Straight to the encouragement, huh? You're not allowed to croak either, or I ain't buying," Malard declared.

"Keep dreaming, Beak."

Crow pointed at them both in turn with a finger. "Right. Drinks, here, all of us. Head out, you two. Thanks for looking after Heron, it's been a pleasure."

Kurenai waved at them both, feeling out of place. "Thank you, good luck," again, she didn't really know what to say. She supposed that they didn't, either.

Malard only inclined his head, but Dove leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Good luck, hun. We look forward to working with you." Kurenai found herself blushing again and grinned, nodding firmly. "Come on Beak, toodles, Crow." Dove melted into shadow, Kurenai didn't see Malard leave. She turned to Crow, who seemed to be watching the sky intently. She looked again, it wasn't the sky that had his attention. He was staring up at the cliff.

"Crow?" She ventured.

"How are you with mountain climbing, Heron?" He murmured, turning his head to look at her with a glint in his eye. Kurenai couldn't see it through that mask, but she could very well imagine it, along with all the horrors it entailed. It was blindingly obvious that Crow was considering something that did not bode well for her future.

Kurenai stared at him in dismay, backing away warily. This felt distressingly familiar. "Not very good?"

"Modest, too," Crow joked. "We can work with that."

_()_

In a moment of rare grace Arashi ducked under a hanging clothes line, narrowly avoiding one of his trademark accidents- only to trip over an unassuming fence he'd forgotten about a breath later. The villagers knew him best from his frequent displays of acrobatic skill and were quite inured to seeing him tumble through the air over crowded markets to bounce off low walls, carts, and glass windows in a frantic effort to avoid killing someone before flinging himself skyward in a flash of yellow- and whatever color of towel he'd blundered into most recently.

The village women in particular knew him as an incorrigible vandal who regularly insisted on spreading their unmentionables across entire city blocks. Arashi felt that they rather deserved it, this was a point of contention that continued to provide gainful employment for a small army of accountants. Kushina chose not to involve herself in these disputes, but then, she didn't have to worry about fishing her stockings out of a tree every other week. Instead, Kushina was the one fishing out the man himself. Her comment had held more weight than he might have liked.

Arashi eyed an oncoming wall with distaste, opting for the easy way out. With a grin he caught a hanging eave and launched himself up bodily with one powerful heave, tapping lightly off the leg of a water tower as he tumbled to soar over a block of apartments. What he couldn't manage in style he made up for with enthusiasm. And if the masonry he'd just demolished had an owner, it wouldn't matter soon anyway.

Thud, ouch, flicker. He cringed, always with the landings.

_()_

"Hey, hey! No. Let go! Let go of me! Don- Don't you dare!" Crow thought it endearing, the way she kept batting at him with her tiny fists. He marched on, unconcerned. How was he going to get all the way up there? The hard way would take longer, but the easy way was almost certain to earn him an infinitely more varied compliment of bruises.

"I hope you choke!"

"You've been speaking with Dove, haven't you?" he asked, laughing.

Kurenai's demands were not so easily silenced. "Put me down!" Crow only shifted his grip, holding her firmly in place while she squirmed to get loose. "What are you- Don't hold me like that!"

Crow began to whistle off key, wincing only slightly once she wormed a leg free of his grasp. It appeared that he'd be bruised no matter the route he took.

"Die!"

_()_

The Third Hokage sighed mightily, he'd gotten very adept at it lately. From the headache involved in pointing a universally homicidal quasi military half tribal mob based entirely on near solitary, mobile deployment in something that might resemble one direction and getting them to stay there to the comparatively minor annoyance of being brusquely informed that he would not be joining them, he'd had plenty of practise. He could even say all of that in one breath, if pressed.

At the moment, he was being sorely tempted to drop the understanding grandfather routine and explain in no uncertain terms that the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans would not be attacking separately simply because he was bigger and stronger than them and what he said was therefore law. It was a pity that he didn't have the time to properly educate the family heads. They'd grown bold since his partial retirement.

With a heavy heart he settled for giving the pair a disappointed look, employing years of experience at both fatherly guidance and intimidation as well as he was able. The Uchiha bleated nervously, sensing danger. His all seeing counterpart chose stony silence as his own weapon of choice. This was ill advised, as the Third could out silence a corpse. No fault could be found in his stance or the set of his hands, all the same, the Hyuuga representative paled.

Sarutobi smiled and spread his hands warmly.

It wasn't long before the clan heads toddled on their way, sowing apologies and frightened glances in their wake. Undoubtedly they were both already scheming to dislodge, discredit or otherwise irritate him before their next encounter. Sarutobi didn't begrudge the men their hobby, the heavens alone knew how utterly bored he'd been during his own tenure at the top of the pile. War or no war, being the leader of a hidden village was largely a matter of looking impressive and pointedly not yelling at people, pausing now and then to slaughter vast quantities of enemy ninja like sheep whenever they got too close to the villagers. The state of the wall was his fault, not Stone's, he honestly still felt a bit embarrassed whenever he looked at it.

Sarutobi sighed again. For whatever reason, nearly two dozen men were pouring through one of the holes he'd made in that wall, carrying doors, some of which appeared to have once been part of his tower. They were followed closely by still more men carrying bulging sacks, many of these were finely embroidered or graced with colorful print. Some of the sacks were shouting, he surmised that their contents had complained too much.

Pulling his pipe from a sleeve and igniting it with a snap of his fingers, Sarutobi puffed. There were some things he didn't need to know.

_()_

Kurenai squeaked bravely.

Crow grinned, tapping a jutting ledge with his heel and moving past a hanging vine. "It's not as bad as all, that, is it?" he had elected to go for the easy route, wandering directly up the sheer, eight hundred odd foot tall stone wall without bothering to hold onto his charge. She'd caught onto his plan quickly, going so far as to bite him before he'd leapt into the air. From that point on she had been at his mercy. Heron could not get down on her own and she was well aware of the fact. The declining circulation about his neck was a painful reminder of her thorough understanding.

Kurenai glared daggers at his shoulder, clinging as tightly as she could. "I hmmf mm," she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I didn't catch that, my dear. Do speak up," Crow replied, paying little attention to his footing. He wobbled slightly, and a fist sized chunk of grey stone dropped beneath him with a loud clatter. He was travelling at a ninety degree angle to the cliff wall, using only the soles his boots to secure himself. This arrangement left his unhappy partner in the disheartening position of having to drape herself over his chest to watch the ground get further away with every step.

Kurenai risked enough to pull her head back from Crow's body to yell in his ear. "I hate you!" The curious sensation of weightlessness slammed home again, forcing another indignant noise from her throat. Whatever Crow was doing to keep himself steady, it was nothing like her method. Swallowing convulsively, she felt ill. When she ran up trees or buildings she still needed to compete with gravity. The Anbu squad leader seemed immune to that consideration.

Crow prodded his chuunin in the side, smirking. "You said something about putting you down?"

"Don't drop me, don't drop me, don't drop me, don't drop me! I'm sorry!" Kurenai babbled, shuddering violently. The horrible feeling coursed through her once more. Crow took pity on the girl, wrapping a strong arm over her back and gripping her shoulder with his hand. What he was doing wasn't exactly sporting. Being carried with so little concern for safety would make a jounin nervous, and Heron was about as green as a chuunin could be.

"Hold on, it's not that far. Try to get used to the pulse, you'll be doing this yourself soon," he assured her.

Kurenai squeezed him tightly, communicating her supreme lack of appreciation for his advice. "I can't get us-ulp!" she squirmed unhappily, her stomach did not approve in the least either. "Used to- ah!"

"Trust me, Heron," Crow patted her soothingly, intentionally picking out the bumpiest, most precarious path he could find, flaring chakra for effect with every other step. "You're my team mate now. I won't let you fall, and even if you got it in your mind to _jump,_ you'd find me waiting at the bottom catch you."

"Some, some team... Mate you are," Kurenai gasped, it almost hurt. Damn Crow, damn the Anbu and damn the fox. She wanted off! Calling his bluff and taking her chances with the cliff side was a tempting prospect.

"Just focus on the pulse. When you feel it, push back. Don't worry about anything else, " a promising looking outcropping proved as atmospheric as Crow had hoped, falling with a note of grave finality. He kept his words measured, free of any stress. He was ready for her, just in case she took him up on his offer.

Kurenai swallowed again. "The pulse? I'll- I'll try," it was difficult to concentrate, even with the security of finally being held.

Crow beamed, less than a day and he had her hanging off his every word, he couldn't complain. His thoughts jarred to a halt momentarily, he could feel his chuunin's first effort down to his toes. "Exactly like that, you'll get used to it soon," he drawled, staggering. Heron was apparently very, very good at pushing back. His skin crawled.

"Right," Kurenai felt a bit more lively, this was more like it! She'd only felt the last pulse for a little while before she'd shoved it away with interest. Crow's stride felt more natural to her afterward, too. Gritting her teeth, she tried again.

Crow soon found that he could only appreciate her progress on a purely intellectual level, as he suddenly found it much, much more difficult to stay attached to the cliff.

_()_

Arashi had settled into a comfortable rhythm: Thump, crunch, flicker. Ouch, step, flicker. Trip, flail, grab, flicker. Crack. Flicker. It was almost soothing.

Crunch, yipe, fl- yipe? Blinking owlishly, Arashi spared the world a glance. Bugger.

"Hokage-sama!"

He'd gone and done something heroic again.

* * *

A/N:

Yahoo, new chapter! I find it more amusing than is healthy to imagine the Yondaime plummeting out of the sky with a sheet on his head. Editing continues on the earlier updates, chapter one now sports a slightly darker take on Crow and Kurenai's interaction as well as a clarification of Kushina's marital status. (She's not.) As well, Hoshi's identity was made more obvious. (The purple stuffed toy is the team mascot, he has to carry it around. Meet Bear. He likes strawberries.) Glad you made it here, happy huntin'!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**7  
**

* * *

_'Thump.'_

One, then two.

_'Thump, thump.'_

And not for the first time, it whispered.

_()_

Kushina found herself forced to contain a snicker that she wasn't sure what to do with. She hadn't expected it, and the giggle that threatened to follow was similarly unwelcome, for here stood the great evil. The dread crusher of mountain shaped rock formations and parter of nameless seas the world over and a dozen ages past. A creature so thoroughly steeped in salted myth and pickled legend that only a splintered armful of accounts written on lengths of rotting bark even guessed at the scope of its strength. The very same herald of death that had reportedly carved a hole where a city had stood and brushed aside a troop of trained killers without pause. It had _titles_, there was _precedent, _and it was aggressively cute.

The demon snuffled with timeless malice and presented an imperious paw. Faced with neither resistance nor worship, it began to dig.

The source of her amusement didn't seem nearly as bad as all that, and with its head shoved down a depression under a root. Kushina could safely say that she'd seen more intimidating sights in a picture book.

A stone was rolled out of the way, and excavation continued apace.

The demon was half a knee high and shaped rather like a fox ought to have been, albeit with longer ears than the standard and a generous coat of electric red fur that looked sprung from the bottom of a bottle. Kushina tried counting again. Where there should have been nine tails, she could see exactly one, and that at least seemed quite bereft of the supernatural.

Apart from the weather, the demon wasn't doing much to impress. It was still shuffling aside little clods of dirt and generally being small and fluffy. More importantly, mind, it wasn't looking in her direction.

_()_

"Hokage-sama!" It was a little boy, not even old enough for the academy or an apprenticeship yet.

"_Whoof!" A_nd his dogs, a great many dogs. The boy was panting and sweating heavily, either he'd been chasing the pack or they'd been chasing him. In either event, they all seemed to be enthralled by Arashi for the moment. Between the drool and the stare he wasn't sure which was worse.

Groaning, Arashi pressed his palms against a slobbering muzzle and tried not to stagger at the weight pressing against his legs. The dogs were piling overtop each other to reach him. Here, he thought, was an example of the Inuzuka at their finest. "Yours, are they?" he managed, keeping some semblance of good humor. Why did it have to be dogs? Arashi winced, feeling a pair of mutts nip at his coat from beneath the press of bodies.

"Ah, well, no. Not... Exactly. I'm supposed to get them to the kennels, but they won't listen to me, Hokage-sama." The boy blushed, studying the road.

"_Whoof! Whuff, yarp!"_

Arashi would have preferred that the child pay more attention to the fact that he was drowning in slobber. "I don't- down boy! Off!" He batted at a hound that seemed intent on climbing onto his head. "Right, have you asked them why they won't go?"

"They're, uh. Well." The boy looked embarrassed, and the dogs continued to attack his clothes.

"You can't-" Arashi paused, staring a sorrowful looking beagle in the eyes, "Down." The beagle obliged only reluctantly, leaping off its partner's head to join its comrades. "You can't understand them yet, right? No!" Arashi broke off again, glaring at one of the larger dogs. "No chewing!"

"No! I can understand them, Hokage-sama, I can, but they're just not making sense anymore!"

Arashi craned his neck to escape a frighteningly dextrous tongue, wincing at the muck collecting on his clothes. "You can all understand me, right?" The pack quieted instantly, while one of them ignored him completely and continued to gnaw on his ankle with gusto. "Your partners already told you how dangerous this is going to be, I can't stop it. But I do need you to take this one somewhere safe. Don't go to the kennels." He pointed vaguely in the direction of a shelter.

The assault was abandoned, the dogs took up flanking positions around their new assignment. The child seemed unsatisfied with this, "But I need t-"

Arashi shook his head, "No arguments, Inuzuka. Just follow them. They know what's coming better than we do."

"But Hokage-sama!"

Flicker.

The boy had hidden in the kennels during the evacuation, that much was obvious. The nin dogs would take care of him.

Step, flicker. Faster now, he cleared the rooftops.

"Old man!"

_()_

_'Thump.'_

It wasn't a heartbeat, but it had a rhythm to it: One by one, two, then one.

_'Thump, thump.'_

The first great pillar of force snaked down, down and down, wrapped in streamers of nothing. It didn't come from anywhere in particular, it simply was, and for now, it was there. A tag just a little closer than the rest felt a tickle, and then a flare.

Three more pillars tore great rents in the forest besides before they too came to a stop. They quivered, and from them more streams cast out and around, collecting dirt and wood and tucking them away between swirls of air and grit. More tags sizzled, exchanging cheerful farewells.

_'Whump.'_

The flames were carried along with everything else, rising in patterns that shouldn't have been. In some places they died, and in others they grew.

_()_

"A smooth climb, even if I have to say so myself," said Crow. This only earned him Kurenai's ire once more.

"Choke."

"Now you're just being unladylike."

Kurenai glared at him, making no effort to rise from her seat on the turf. "Aren't you supposed to be conserving energy?" She tried not to pout, looking back at the cliff edge. She was sitting a good fifty feet from it, but she felt as if she'd never be quite far enough. Crow slouched nearby, looking only slightly ruffled. His matted, dyed black hair flopped in the breeze, brushing over his mask.

He shrugged, watching a twig skitter past his foot. "I'm used to being run dry, don't listen to common wisdom. Chakra exhaustion is just another term for giving up early."

"...Right." Kurenai was skeptical, but she wasn't in the mood to argue the point, she was too tired to care. Whatever the crazed exercise Crow had put her through had been intended to accomplish, it had been draining, and time consuming. She realized that they really did need to get into position. That thought felt strange, the whole day had been spent in a kind of fairy tale daze. The Anbu and Jounin had just carried on as usual, they'd turned distraction into an art form. Even thinking about it now, she couldn't be afraid. That was the idea, wasn't it?

"Less thinking, more standing, Heron. Alright to move?" Crow was grinning at her, she could hear it.

Kurenai groaned, "Probably." Her limbs felt heavy, the trip to the top had not done her any favors. It wasn't as if she was adverse to a bit of strain, but what he had done was exhausting in an entirely different way than she'd been prepared for. Leaping from branch to branch and dodging pointy things thrown by unpleasant looking men with her blood on their minds? That she could manage all day. Having someone pump chakra through her body while carrying her like a sack of rocks up a cliff, pausing now and then to ask her if she was quite certain that she would rather he keep from letting go? Not a strong point.

"On your own time." He was kind enough not to tease her, at least. She knew that he would pick her up again without complaint if asked, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction. Kurenai rose on weak legs, and when she stumbled Crow was there with a steadying hand. She smiled despite herself.

"Thank you." The wind ruffled her hair, but she checked for his hand anyway.

"Much b-" For an instant, just a bare moment, the world seemed to turn on edge, and every tree in the forest above and below bent as one. Then the howl tore through them. Crow didn't pause and broke into a run, and Kurenai could only watch him leave.

Her first steps were jerky, some steps later she almost fell, and by the time she'd caught her stride the earth had already began to move under her feet. She was a chuunin now, there was no way she wouldn't keep up.

_()_

The fox nearly bounced in place, watching her for signs of movement. "Murr!" Fur rippled, and a single fluffy tail bobbed, dragging a screaming trail of wind and dirt with it.

Kushina crawled weakly out from her patch of torn earth and reached to stroke its head, just slightly out of reach. "Murr yourself, demon," she croaked, coughing.

"Mrurr." Its cold little nose nuzzled her palm, and she couldn't help but smile. That hurt, her lips were split. She felt the gash with her tongue, brushing past a loosened tooth.

"Would you like to play another game?" Broken tooth, actually.

The fox nipped at her fingers delightedly, taking no offense at the scent of blood and oil they carried. "Mrowrr. Yip!" More afterthought than punctuation, a helpless trunk was plucked from the earth and carried into the sky, spinning end over end.

Kushina stroked its chin gently and worked her fingers into its fur, closing her eyes. "Then what sort of game should we play?" The fox only quirked its head, rubbing against her hand. Resting on her arm beside it, she asked again.

This time it looked thoughtful, and a faint tremor shook them. "Yip!"

Snuffling again, it bent to nibble at a strip of cloth that hung limply from her forearm and tugged. Kushina tugged back and raised her head to watch the makeshift bandage stretch taught. "Tastes funny, doesn't it?" she teased. The fox's ears quirked at the strangest angle, and it gave her a convincing glare over a mouthful of leather. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you," Kushina assured it.

Sitting up with some difficulty, she smiled and scooted closer. The effort pulled uncomfortably, and she could feel something wet trickle down the small of her back. "You're a good girl."

"Mrr." Heaving mightily, the fox dug all four paws into the soil for traction.

_()_

"Pretty, ain't it old man?" Arashi bounced back to his feet. Plumes of grey smoke floated over the ragged tree line, unraveled and strung in streamers across the horizon. His cloak flapped, clinging desperately to his shoulders, and not too far behind to escape notice, the old record building gave its last. Arashi kept up his banter despite the noise, half shouting over the constant whistle. "I never liked that place, stuffy. And that makes another for the first trench, it's coming along quick." Tottering clumsily, he moved to brace himself against a wide chimney. The squat, officious looking building it was attached to shuddered and listed slightly into the street while he groped for purchase, neatly banging his nose on the stonework. "Bah!" Sharp cracks ran under his feet, but he payed them no mind.

Sarutobi did not approve, his aging features were strained. "I always did wonder what you had against theater, but might I remind you that we have a more pressing concern?" One finger pointed at a distant copse of trees taking to the air, these too far to be heard. The acrobatics displayed by the springier pines would have been noteworthy on another day, but this evening they went unapplauded.

Arashi wrinkled his nose and grinned, ducking a low flying curtain. He watched the unpleasant floral pattern's progress, unrepentant. "Ancient history, hated the stage since I was a brat." He shrugged. "No sense in worrying until the fun starts. Besides, some redecorating will do the villagers good."

"Redecorating you say. Wonderful. I shudder to think what you'll do with this place in a year." A distant siren wailed shrilly before cutting off with a mechanical squawk, prompting a curious look to cross the elder's face. "You're not going to tell me, are you?" Another siren shrieked in turn from the cliff wall far behind them, it too was silenced in short order.

Arashi brushed the question aside, "Think it'd flatten the academy for me if I let it through?"

"I really don't believe that enlisting the aid of a demon is the right way to go about settling your grudges."

"Says the man who _sat and laughed_ while the instructors used me as a practice dummy," Arashi groused.

"Point taken."

_()_

Kurenai ducked under a flailing branch, struggling to keep up. Her legs felt heavy, heavier than they should have been, even. Why wouldn't the ground stop shaking?

"Hold."

Kurenai only barely caught herself before she slammed into Crow's back, breathing heavily. She'd fallen more than once on the way. Looking past him, she saw that they'd reached his destination. It wasn't quite what she'd expected. A pair of technicians were crouched beside a short metal tube pegged in a patch of recently cleared earth, shielding their eyes from the wind with their arms. A single braided silver cord extended from the dirt a few feet away, trailing off down a trail toward the cliffside. A third technician walked out from the edge of the clearing, facing Crow with his arms crossed. "Anbu, we've been waiting for you!"

Crow nodded, speaking up when the man reached him, "I took the scenic route, your people ready?" He didn't quite have to shout to be heard.

"Yes, yes they are," the man bit. Kurenai felt slightly sorry for him, between the dirt and the expression on his face he looked as if he'd had better days. Noticing her huddled behind Crow, the technician scowled. "What's the short one for?" Kurenai glared, somehow she didn't feel sorry for him anymore.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, put the rest on standby," Crow drawled, waving the man off.

"Yes, sir," his reply could have cut stone. Crow ignored him and leaned back to speak to Kurenai. "We're at the end of the line, but there are a few more of these rods further down. If you hear shouting, the tech's down there are the ones you can thank," he bobbed his head at the retreating trio.

She was confused, "How will you know when it's time?" The question had been bothering her, there wasn't anything like a view of the action from where they stood, and the ground was still shaking!

Crow cocked his head and jabbed his thumb at the sky above him. "We'll know, believe me."

Kurenai suddenly felt very small.

"Hey, steady. It's not real, ignore it." She shivered and looked down.

Another gust caught them, flattening their clothes against their bodies. The trees rustled in an odd rhythm, not as if the wind were shaking them. First these, then that one alone, then a handful at a time.

The sky was leering at her.

"Hey, come on." This time it was Crow who ruffled her hair, and that made it better.

It _was_ real.

She wasn't going to look anymore.

It _was_.

_()_

In roughly the middle of a ragged column, wet green eyes met brown, "Daddy?"

"Yes, dear?" brown eyes met green.

"Are we going to die?"

A woman ahead of them tripped over her own sandle, sobbing. "No, dear." He was a brave enough man and often a helpful one, but he only had so many arms.

"But the big person said that..." He held his daughter tightly, stepping past another man who'd stopped to help the woman to her feet. A passing breeze whispered in his ear.

"No, dear."

Once, and again, then twice more.

_'Thump.' _

He smiled, and green eyes met black. "D-daddy?"

_'Thump, thump.'_

"Daddy that hurts!"

_()_

Jaws wide, the fox dropped its prize and swished its tail proudly.

"Mrur!" it exclaimed, hopping from side to side. More play! The fox walked over to where Kushina lay and eyed her hopefully. She was caked in mud, and her legs were bent oddly beneath her. When she groaned, a fold in her jacket rustled.

The fox pounced with a pleased yip, working its teeth into the fabric.

Maybe because it wasn't so careful, or maybe because it was just that much larger now, its teeth made their way into her flesh as well.

She tried not to scream.

_()_

If the wind could howl, it wouldn't be so far fetched to say that it could shriek. And given that, it really wouldn't be such a stretch to suggest that the wind might, conceivably, contrive a way to blow a fog horn. Crow ducked a whipping branch and reached into the top of the tube. "Right on time."

Or three. "You're sure we're not just late?"

It really was very loud. "A possibility," he conceded, taking the knotted silver cord in hand and wrapping it around his wrist. "Ready?"

"Are you sure that's all you want me to do?"

So loud, in fact, _'Groan.'_

And so hard, _'Crack.'_

"Look pretty, and don't pull me off until I collapse. Easy, right?" he joked, crouching.

That the trees, _'Creak.'_

"I still- Crow!"

Weren't simply bending anymore.

_'Snap!'_

* * *

A/N: It's been a long time, I know! Half a year or more, even? We've got some old and new here, but it was fun to put together. Chapter 1, the old Prologue, enjoyed a scene transplant, so there are a couple new scenes back there in place of pair I moved. Now two of my masked character's identities are somewhat more obvious. To begin with I wasn't sure which of three people they were going to turn out to be. (There is method, honest.)

Story on the downtime? My outline for this portion turned out to be completely and utterly impractical for me to write. I simply couldn't make it work, so I kept this part of the story in the back of my head for a few months and mixed it up a bit. My writing's changed a little since I started, so this feels a bit choppy, but that's all I've got.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think, hey? It's always nice to see what worked out and what I need to poke. Thanks for reading!


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